The Ukrainian World Congress deeply mourns the passing on 18 March 2015 of political and community activist Pavlo Dorozhynsky – former long-term member of the Ukrainian World Congress Secretariat.

The passing of Pavlo Dorozhynsky is a great loss for both the Ukrainian diaspora and Ukraine, to which he dedicated his life. The late Pavlo Dorozhynsky actively defended the ideals of a free, independent and democratic Ukrainian state.

One year ago, on 18 March 2014, the international community was witness to the most insolent since the Second World War violation of international law – the forceful annexation by the Russian Federation of Crimea, an integral part of the territory of the Ukrainian state.

The United Nations, in the resolution Territorial integrity of Ukraine adopted by the General Assembly on 27 March 2014 on the illegal so-called “referendum” in Crimea held on 16 March 2014, declared:

In February 2015 the first goal of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) humanitarian initiative Patriot Defence was met with the distribution of 10,000 Improved First Aid Kits (IFAK) to Ukrainian soldiers.

The goal of the UWC humanitarian initiative Patriot Defence, led since its inception in May 2014 by UWC Director of Humanitarian Initiatives Dr. Ulana Suprun, is to save the lives of defenders of Ukraine in combat by providing instruction in tactical medicine in accordance with NATO-standard Combat Lifesaver training and supplying an IFAK.

On 6 March 2015 the Atlantic Council of the United States and Freedom House presented an extensive report at the Atlantic Council headquarters in Washington, U.S.A. by Andrii Klymenko titled Human Rights Abuses in Russian-Occupied Crimea.

Ukrainians around the world mourn with the people of Ukraine in the aftermath of the tragic accident on 4 March 2015 at the Zasyadko coal mine in Donetsk that took the lives of at least 32 miners.

“On this Day of Mourning, the Ukrainian World Congress expresses condolences to the families of the victims and the injured, and joins the people of Ukraine in their sorrow,” stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.